GOP waits on Gerlach decision

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach’s indecision over his 2010 plans is causing heartburn for Republican leaders in Washington and suburban Philadelphia who worry that his extended timetable for announcing his next move is jeopardizing the GOP’s ability to hold his competitive House seat.

While potential Republican candidates remain in a state of suspended animation while Gerlach considers whether to run for reelection or launch a statewide bid for governor or Senate — a waiting game now in its sixth month — Democrats have already commenced with a vigorous effort to pry the seat out of GOP hands.

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Democrat Doug Pike, a former member of the Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board and the son of former Rep. Otis Pike (D-N.Y.), is aggressively campaigning for the seat and has pledged to spend $1 million out of his own pocket in the contest.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has showered the suburban Philadelphia-based 6th District with robocalls and text messages hitting the four-term GOP congressman on his opposition to President Barack Obama’s stimulus package.

“He’s got to make a decision soon because everyone’s waiting,” said Jeff Jubelirer, a Philadelphia-based Republican strategist. “It will be a concern the longer it goes on.”

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions told POLITICO that he and Gerlach had reached a mutual understanding of when a decision would be reached — and that it would be soon.

“My sense is that Jim is going through a process that’s very deliberative about him making a determination about what he wants to do, and he’s going to come to a conclusion very quickly,” said Sessions.

“He and I have a very clear understanding of what his time frames are,” the Texas congressman said. “It’s in his court.”

For Republicans, though, the district’s highly competitive nature and unmistakable Democratic trend are generating a sense of urgency, a feeling that the party doesn’t have the luxury of waiting much longer for the GOP field to develop.

“I think leaders of the party would like to see him make a decision sooner rather than later,” said Val DiGiorgio, a southeastern Pennsylvania GOP activist who has served on the Chester County Republican Party’s Executive Committee. “It’s not just a matter of what Jim is going to be doing. It’s a matter of what other people are going to be doing.”

Over the span of the past five years, Democrats have expanded their voter registration tally in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties and now claim an overall edge in the district. Obama won 58 percent of the vote there in November and, after fending off three successive strong Democratic challenges, Gerlach only narrowly defeated an underfunded and largely unknown Democratic candidate.

“Whoever is going to run is going to face quite a task,” said Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll and a leading authority on Pennsylvania politics. “I think there’s some urgency on the part of Republicans so they can get this settled so they hold onto this seat.”